


You and I

by NeverAndAlways



Series: Rewrites [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Big Brother Gabriel, Childbirth, Cute Kids, Gen, M/M, Mpreg, Not Beta Read, Parenthood, Parents Castiel & Dean Winchester, Parents Gabriel & Sam Winchester, Pregnancy, Pregnant Castiel, Protective Gabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-26
Packaged: 2018-05-03 00:05:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5268986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverAndAlways/pseuds/NeverAndAlways
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rewrite of the last chapter of 'I and Love and You'. (http://archiveofourown.org/works/2006421/chapters/4348386)<br/>Obligatory fic-with-song-title.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A prologue of sorts

Mid-January is the worst part of the year. The holidays are over and everything is cold, dark, and boring. And it's even worse when you're a week past your due date.

Castiel has never been so uncomfortable. Being pregnant has long since lost its charm. The baby turns, and he moves too, trying to reposition so its feet aren't sticking him in the ribs. It doesn't work. He settles for laying on his side, so at least they aren't directly on his lungs. It's still snowing outside; there's at least six inches on the ground, and more to come. The perfect snow day...unless you're stuck inside. Sam, Gabriel, and Dean have been at the park all afternoon with Nathaniel, leaving Cas alone in the house to rest. As though he hasn't had enough 'rest' in the past three months. He's barely moved from the couch since they left. Maybe, he thinks bitterly, if he lays here long enough, the baby will get bored too and he'll finally go into labor. One can hope. He shuts his eyes and lets the TV drone him into unconsciousness.

-

The slam of the front door wakes him sometime later. He sits up as hurriedly as he's able, just as his nephew scampers into the room. Nathaniel pauses only long enough to divest himself of his parka and boots before running to greet him.

"Hi uncle Cas!"

"Hello, Nathaniel. How was your afternoon?"

"Good. We made a snowman!"

"Did you?"

"An' daddy made a fort that was kind of a wall, an' we threw snowballs at papa and uncle Dean, an' one hit him in the face sorta on accident and he fell down-"

"My goodness."

"An' then I found a rock with a snowflake on it!" the little boy dams his stream of consciousness just long enough to plunge a hand into his pocket. After some rummaging, he pulls out the rock and holds it up for his uncle's inspection. It's quite pretty: soft gray, shiny-wet with melted snow, and almost perfectly round. Cas does his best to look appreciative.

"That's a very nice rock, but I don't see a snowflake anywhere."

Nathaniel frowns. "It was there...!" he rummages in his pocket a little more, but it's nowhere to be found. So he turns his scowl on the mysteriously damp snowflake-stealing rock, and is still scowling when his parents and uncle walk into the room. Sam is wringing water out of his coat, and Dean is sporting the beginnings of a bruise on his cheekbone. Gabriel stops at the discarded pile of clothing.

"Hey chickadee, you forgot something." he says. Nathaniel looks over his shoulder. "Take care of your things, please."

With a little "oh!" Nathaniel runs to pick up his coat and boots - the kid rarely walks anywhere - and runs out of the room again.

"Put them where they belong, Nate, don't just throw them in the closet!" Gabriel calls after him. A quick "I won't!" echoes back, and he rolls his eyes fondly.

"Hello, Gabriel."

"Hey Cassie." Gabriel unwinds his scarf. "How goes it?"

Cas shrugs and hoists himself higher on the couch. Gabriel's been pregnant, he should know well enough not to ask. He smiles. "That good, huh?"

"Mm."

Dean walks back into the room, holding a bag of frozen corn to his cheek, and shuffles to the couch. "Mind if I join you?" Cas scoots over, and Dean flops down next to him.

"I hear your brother assaulted you with snow." Cas says as Dean shuffles closer.

"No, his son did." Dean smirks and lifts the ice pack away to show his bruise. "Kid's got a good arm."

"But a snowball couldn't have done that, could it?" Cas brushes it with a fingertip.

"Ow, dude, don't touch it - nah, he got a little rock in it by mistake. Wasn't even aiming for anything."

"Ouch."

"Yeah...Sam had a talk with him." Dean presses the bag to his face again. "Speaking of kids, though: how're you doin'?"

"About the same."

"Nothing? Still?"

"Still."

"Damn, Cas. The doc was right, maybe you do need to be induced."

"Maybe." Cas shudders a little at the thought. "Let's give it a little more time."

"Alright. Your call." Dean leans in for a quick kiss. Then he gets up to return to the kitchen with his melting ice pack - and nearly gains a new bruise as his attacker comes trotting back into the room, almost running him down. "Woah! Careful, kiddo."

"Sorry!" Nathaniel stops and deposits his cargo of toys on the couch, then climbs up after them. "Hi, uncle Cas."

"Hello again. I see you brought some friends." Cas smiles.

"Uh-huh!" Nathaniel holds up a stuffed dragon and growls as deep as his voice will go. Cas feigns a look of horror. Then the little boy launches into one of his elaborate, nonsensical tales, the kind only a little kid can really tell, and Cas sits back and quietly listens. And from the kitchen, unnoticed by either, Dean looks on and smiles.

-

Cas and Nathaniel play together for hours. Dragons and action figures run amok, wreaking havock and having all kinds of adventures. When dinnertime rolls around, Dean has to pick his way through a lego minefield just to help Cas up from the couch. Nathaniel devours his dinner (once Sam persuades him to part with his toys) and talks up a storm between bites. Cas, on the other hand...food is the last thing he wants to deal with right now. Ever since his afternoon nap, he's been sore in a way he can't quite place. It's different from the everyday aches and pains he's come to associate with pregnancy; it's not a kind of pain he can put to the back of his mind and ignore. It keeps itself front-and-center, demanding all his attention. He takes a few bites of dinner just to be polite, but that's all he can manage, and he excuses himself quickly.

A bath. That might help. Cas slips away to the upstairs bathroom, turns on the water and undresses while he waits. As he slips his sweater off he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and pauses. His vessel is tired - or  **he's** tired. It's becoming harder to tell where one ends and the other begins. Although Jimmy would have never admitted that he was a carrier, let alone have a baby himself...he cradles his belly one-handed. Hard to believe that's his child in there. Dean's child. The pain comes back, clamping down just behind his navel, and he frowns. "Alright, I hear you." he turns off the faucet and climbs in. A deep sigh escapes as the warm water envelops him and draws out all the pent-up aches. He sinks in up to his shoulders, his belly rising out of the water like some bizarre island. Oh, this is wonderful, he thinks happily, and lets his eyes drift shut.

He's just on the edge of sleep when someone knocks on the door.

"I'm in the bath. Go away." he doesn't bother opening his eyes. 

"It's me, Cas."

Now he opens his eyes, and looks toward the cracked-open door. "Come in, Dean." he says reluctantly. The door opens all the way and his boyfriend slips into the room.

"Hey." Dean pads across the tile floor to crouch by the side of the tub. Cas gives him a long stare.

"Do you need something?"

"Just checkin' in. It's not like you to skip out on dinner."

Cas says nothing. One hand absently scoops up some water, pours it over his belly.

"You okay, babe...?"

He scoots a little lower. "Everything just...hurts. I thought a bath would help."

"Are you having contractions?"

"I don't know. It's too soon to tell." Cas shrugs, trying to stay neutral. Scared as he is of the idea of labor, he thinks he might go crazy if this turns out to be another false alarm. Dean makes an affirmative sound and dabbles his fingers in the water, lost in thought. Sam's footsteps clomp down the hallway outside.

"...Dean."

"Hm?"

"I would like to be alone for a while."

"Sure, yeah. Sorry." Dean finds Cas' hand under the water and laces their fingers together for a moment. "Yell if you need anything, okay? I'll be right downstairs."

"I will."

Dean flashes a smile, then stands up and pads away. Cas is asleep before he even gets downstairs.

 

oOo


	2. Chapter 2

The evening progresses. Nathaniel is put to bed; Sam puts on a movie. Cas goes from bathroom to bedroom, then emerges a while later in a T-shirt and pajama pants. He shuffles down the stairs, shuffles across the living room, lowers himself gingerly onto the couch. Dean blinks awake.

"Hey you." he smiles groggily.

"Hello Dean."

"Any progress?"

"Possibly. The pain seems a little more...concentrated." he pulls his shirt a little further down over his belly. "It's up to the baby now." Gabriel is looking on from his seat across the room. Cas frowns. "What?"

"You two are adorable." Gabriel smirks, but not unkindly. Cas rolls his eyes. "The kid's gonna come when it's ready, no use tying yourself in knots." 

"You were just as eager before Nathaniel was born, Gabriel. I seem to remember telling **you** to be patient." Cas retorts, quiet under the sound of the movie. Sam laughs.

"He's got you there."

Gabriel makes a noise bordering on indignant, but says nothing more. They all lapse into silence. On the screen, the familiar cantina song starts up as Luke Skywalker wanders around Mos Eisley. Dean and Sam watch intently. No matter how many times they see these movies, they never seem to get enough. Luke is threatened by a werewolf-looking alien, Obi-Wan saves the day; Luke argues with Han Solo; Han Solo argues with someone else. Et cetera, et cetera. The plot wears on and Gabriel, at least, lets his attention wander.

Until, a few scenes later, he glances over and sees Castiel sitting with his eyes tightly shut. Both hands are on his belly, and his face is lined with concentration. Or maybe pain. Gabriel reaches for the remote. Sam shoots him a bemused look when the movie stops, and he nods to Cas. Dean has already noticed; they sit, watchful, until it's over.

"I'd say that was a real one." says Gabriel when Cas looks up. Cas looks from his brother to Sam and Dean and back, and draws a deep breath.

"So it would seem."

-

After the initial hustle and bustle of getting ready, there's not much to do but wait some more. So they start up the movie again, although by now no one's really invested. It just plays on by itself and is largely ignored. Cas finds he's grateful to have it, though. It's not distracting, but it becomes a point of focus between contractions, which is useful. Especially since they're just over six minutes by the time the credits roll. So Gabriel fulfills his role as an extra pair of hands and puts in the next movie while Cas paces around the room.

When he comes back, Cas barely registers. The scope of what he's able to focus on is shrinking with every contraction. If it's not right in front of him, it gets ignored, so he startles a little when his brother moves into his line of sight.

"Gabriel." an acknowledgement of his presence more than anything.

"Miss me?" he teases.

"No." maybe. Cas loops his arms around his brother's neck and leans into him. Gabriel may not be a big guy, but he's stronger than he looks; before long he's supporting almost all of Castiel's weight. Cas heaves a sigh that seems to pull every bit of air from his lungs. He's already worn out.

"Really takes it outta you, doesn't it." says Gabriel, in one of his rare moments of seriousness.

"Mm." Cas sways in place. Dean is somewhere in the room, he can't pinpoint where, and another wave is coming...he screws his eyes shut. There's no denying what's going on now; the pain's not just concentrated, but tight as well, forcing the weight in his belly downward. He angles his stance, trying to move himself down and out of it but he's still anchored to Gabriel. He growls his frustration.

"Easy, Cas. You're okay." not his brother's voice this time. Dean. His hands press into the small of Cas' back, thumbs digging into the tightest knots. The deep pressure is just enough to distract him and before he knows it, the pain is fading out. "You're doin' great, babe. I'm so proud of you." Dean again. Cas opens his eyes.

"I've hardly done anything to be proud of." unless there's a record for consecutive laps around a room. In which case he's probably broken it.

"I dunno, I'd say having a baby is a pretty big deal."

Cas lets that one go and unhooks himself from Gabriel. His arms are losing circulation. "I need to lay down for a while." he mutters. There's another contraction coming, way too soon. Without waiting for a response he waddles away with as much determination as he can muster. The end credits music is playing, but no one bothers with it; Dean and Gabriel are right on his heels. Cas makes it to the bedroom, but not much much farther than that before the contraction stops him. Bracing himself on the wall with one hand and pressing the pain out of his back with the other, he hums low in his chest. The hums deepens as the contraction reaches its peak until he almost rattles the floorboards with the sound.

"Three minutes." says Gabriel in the distance. He's kept a stopwatch on-hand since this whole thing started. Cas ignores him and picks up where he left off. Climbing onto the bed takes some doing but he manages. Gabriel helps him get situated with pillows between his legs and behind his back, then disappears to get their supplies from the other room. The mattress dips, jostles a little; Cas opens his eyes to see Dean laying beside him. And not a moment too soon, either. The contractions are a little different now that he's laying down. Sharper, certainly. He can't catch his breath.

Dean puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You gotta breathe, babe, come on." he takes a few deep breaths, in through his nose and out through his mouth, exaggerating so Cas can follow along. And he does, after a few tries, although he's barely staying ahead of things as it is. But Dean doesn't let up. He keeps Cas anchored, breathing slow and deep for as long as the contraction lasts.

Which turns out to be quite a while. The pain doesn't stop. A new cramp is on him before the last one has faded, then another and another, and it's all he can do just to hang on. It goes on for ages - an hour, maybe two. He can't tell. Dean is next to him but far away at the same time. His water breaks at some point, which is only a minor relief. The baby is shifting just slightly with the peak of each contraction, moving lower; it's soon, but not soon enough. He'd take Leviathans over this any day.

An eternity later he comes out of it, sweaty and shivering as if from a fever. The pressure and pain is still there but at least it wanes somewhat. And there's a sense of urgency that wasn't there before. Clumsily he pulls himself upright, yanking his pajama pants off as he goes. To hell with modesty.

Dean's voice cuts through the haze. "Cas? What's goin' on?"

"It's time." Cas hesitates. His body doesn't. His muscles seize up, bending him in half over the pillows, and he pushes. The noise he makes is almost feral; he even surprises himself. But it's over too soon to make much progress. He continues his trek to the head of the bed, vaguely aware now of hands helping him along. Then he lowers himself into a squat with his knees wide apart, as Gabriel slides in behind him (the part of him that's still aware of his surroundings bristles slightly at the closeness). Dean situates himself between his feet. Cas props himself against Gabriel's chest, pressing back into him, and pushes again. It hurts like hell and he bites his lip - hard - to hold back a scream. There's a hand on his belly as the contraction ends.

"Don't worry about being quiet, babe. Gabriel's been through this before, and I'm not gonna mind. Make as much noise as you need to."

Cas loosens his hold on his lip. He tastes blood. There's no time to dwell on that, though, as the urge to push comes roaring back, and he obeys. There's a burning between his legs as the baby's head descends, stretching him open, and he screams through clenched teeth.

"Doin' good, Cassie." says Gabriel behind him.

There's barely enough time to take a breath before he's at it again. The pressure is shifting, moving down and out, so damn slowly. Panic is rising inside him, some instinct to get away from the pain, but he shoves past it. He's fighting this the way he would fight any monster: not giving an inch, pushing and pushing it until its defenses crack. And it must be working, because Dean grins.

"That's great, Cas, I can see him!"

Cas pushes again, and again, and keeps pushing. The pain is just as intense, but knowing that it's almost over takes some of the edge off. The head is coming to crown; he yells himself hoarse.

"Head's out."

He reaches down around his belly. Logically he knows it's there, but he has to touch. Has to know it's real. And his breath hitches when he does.

"One more, you're almost done." there's pride in Gabriel's voice. It takes Cas by surprise, in his few moments of clarity before the next contraction. Then he's putting everything he has into bearing down, crying out again until his voice is completely gone. And the next moment, it's over. The pressure is gone, Gabriel is cheering, and he's never felt so relieved. The wavering cry of a newborn fills the air.

"Cassie, you did it! You did it, look at him!"

"Look at **her**." you can hear the smile in Dean's voice.

-Wait. 'Her'? Cas opens his eyes. "It's a girl...?"

"Sure looks that way." beaming, Dean places the newborn on her father's chest. Cas instinctively gathers her up, holds her close. A girl. A daughter. Ten fingers, ten toes, wrinkled and ugly and absolutely perfect. He grins.

"Hello, sweetheart."

-

"Sasquatch?"

Gabriel tiptoes down into the basement, where Sam has been making himself scarce. He needn't have said anything, really. You can't sneak up on anyone in this creaky old house. Or maybe you can; when he pokes his head past the open panic room door, Sam jumps.

"Hey babe." says Gabriel. Sam quirks an eyebrow expectantly. "The stork's been and gone. Wanna come up where it's actually warm?"

He and his boyfriend trek back up the stairs and through the now-quiet house. It's a contented sort of quiet. All the hard work is done. But as they pass Nathaniel's room, a little voice breaks the silence.

"Daddy...?"

Sam spins around. Their son is standing in the doorway, pajama-clad and on the verge of tears. He crouches down to eye-level. "Honey, what are you doing up? It's late."

"There was a loud noise." the little boy rubs his eyes. Sam casts a glance back at his boyfriend.

"Castiel." Gabe says in an undertone. "I didn't think it would wake him, he's such a heavy sleeper." Nathaniel sniffles wetly.

"Shh. C'mere munchkin, you're okay." Sam scoops him up, shushes him gently. "Hey. Before you go back to bed, there's someone I want you to meet."

This gets his attention. He lifts his tear-stained face from his dad's shoulder. "Who?"

"Come on, let's find out." Sam stands up, still holding his son, and off they go.

-

They almost collide with Dean when they reach the bedroom. He swerves around them with his armful of towels, clearly too full of endorphins to really care. But then he swerves again after a few steps.

"What's Nate doing up?"

"He, uh...he had a bad dream." Sam shrugs. The little white lie goes right through Dean, though, and he wanders away. So Sam and Gabriel turn and continue into the bedroom.

"Knock knock." calls Gabriel. The room is dimly lit; only a single lamp illuminates the scene. Cas is curled up in a mound of pillows, half-asleep with a tightly swaddled bundle in his arms. He drags his eyes open.

"Sorry to wake you up; just wanted to say congrats." Sam says quietly. Cas cracks a small smile.

"Thank you." his voice is hoarse, but he sounds more content than Sam's ever heard him. He nods him closer.

Nathaniel lifts his head from his dad's shoulder. "It's just uncle Cas." he sounds thoroughly disapproving.

"No, honey, look." Sam motions to the bundle. Cas doesn't seem surprised to see his nephew; maybe he's too tired for that. The bundle squirms. Nate's eyebrows shoot up his forehead. "That's your baby cousin." 

"Her name is Emma." adds Cas. "Emma Kathleen."

Nate blinks sleepily once, twice. "Oh. Hi, baby." he says, just as sleepily. Then he sticks his thumb in his mouth and nuzzles into the crook of his dad's neck. Sam chuckles.

"He'll be more enthused in the morning." he looks at Cas. "She's beautiful, Cas. Congratulations." Cas doesn't answer; either he's asleep already, or he's transfixed by the baby. So Sam smiles, hoists his own baby a little higher on his shoulder, and turns to leave. It's time for bed.

oOo

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked the story so far, please leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you!


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